Silver Bells at Our House


Christmas Lights

Last night, Elaine and I decided to take a trip around town and look at all the Christmas lights. Heading down Palestine, we passed Mary Lou Lott’s old house and the new people had put up some lights.Thank goodness they no longer have a screen door, because it banged in the wind for about six months. Across the street from the Baptist church, there were blue lights strung, and the lady who owns the Blue Victorian house had some nice decorations as well. Her house always looks good. We headed down to Gillespie Circle and the Browns had quite a spectacle at their house – front and back.  I especially liked the rope lights that were spread out on the ground, with the gift boxes. On Norwood Circle, Mr. Motorcycle had some tasteful decorations, but the most spectacular of all was the house where some vandals had broken into and did quite a bit of damage, earlier this year.  That family made an amazing comeback and the lights were just wonderful. Good for them! 

We then headed down Main Street, and my three favorite houses past the Episcopal  church were decorated quite well.  Turning down Dupree, we admired the white lights on the Dupree-Ratliff house. There were lighted deer in the side yard and that was a nice touch. A block further, and there was a house that had so many lights on it, it was incredible. We turned the car around and cruised by it again, more slowly, totally delighted.

Then Elaine wanted to see the lights on her house, so we came up Dry Grove Road past the cemetery.  I made some comment about maybe the graveyard would have some decorations as a joke, but as we drove by, lo and behold, there were lighted Christmas trees on some of the graves!  Yikes!  But how touching that some people went to all that trouble.

The most disturbing Christmas display, however, was on Main Street across from the college. Some thrifty lady decided to take the pumpkins from Halloween, paint them white, and stick carrot noses on them.  I suppose they’re supposed to be snowman heads, but it makes you wonder what happened to their bodies.  Each time I drive by, I wonder why the pumpkins haven’t rotted.  I’m tellin’ ya Martha, it just ain’t right.

Pointsettias

It’s always nice to receive a classic Pointsettia for Christmas, and every year, without fail, someone gives me one. Sometimes, more than one. Since I tend to nurture house plants, I tend to it faithfully, to make sure it flourishes. As the months go by, however, it’s suddenly July, and I still have the plant.  Christmas is long over, and the air conditioner is blasting against the heat.  By this time, a few of the leaves have dried up, but not enough to heartlessly toss it away in the trash. So I continue to keep the damn thing, and every day, as I pass it by, I am aware that it is slowly dying. That makes me feel guilty. And near about October, I finally find the fortitude to carry out the dastardly deed and discard it. But first, of course, I apologize to it and thank it for its service, even though there are still a few red leaves left and I really shouldn’t throw it out. Then before you know it, it’s Christmas time again, and the Pointsettia from Christmas past is back to haunt me!  

So please, please, if you give me a Pointsettia this year, you must promise to take custody again, just as soon as the holiday season is over.  Stop this endless cycle of guilt! 

Turnip Greens with Pork

Ingredients:

1 Lime
Soy or Tamari Sauce
Garlic
Turnip Greens
Butterfly Pork Chops 
Small Amount of Oil

Cook this dish in a wok.  Cut the pork into very thin slices. Add oil and garlic to the wok and cook for a minute before adding the pork.  When the pork is cooked, add a mess of chopped up turnip greens.  Squeeze in the juice of half a lime and soy sauce.  Cook until the greens wilt and the mixture is blended.  Serve immediately. 

Tip:  A slightly frozen piece of pork slices quite easily into thin slices. 

Midnight Rose

Song:  Burnin' Old Memories

 

I used to play in a band called Midnight Rose, when I lived out in California. This is the first of a series of live songs the band did, that I'll post. Midnight Rose stayed around for 12 years, with a few changes in band members. These recordings were made at Brookdale Lodge, located up in the redwoods. The lodge had quite a history and had a few ghosts in it as well. One of the female ghosts used to like our drummer. When we were setting up for the gig, we could smell gardenia perfume around the drum set. The rest of the band always teased the drummer about it. 

 

Burning Old Memories

Bay Lee and the Parakeets

My husband Bill shot a video of my birds on his phone.  Bay Lee, the big bird on top of the cage, doesn't view the parakeets as birds. When she found out that they could fly, it freaked her out. She flew through the house in a panic, peeping all the way. Here  are the names of the parakeets:

Do We Don't We 

Governor Huey P. Long 

Rowdy Boy

Lavender Larry 

Natural Fences

There are two things that women do here in Raymond. One is pick up the trash that other people throw in their yards, and the other is picking up branches that the trees discard on a regular basis. Since we don’t have a dump in Raymond, the city comes around and picks up the piles of branches set by the curb. I was told that people were supposed to tie them up into bundles, but somebody cheated and didn’t do it, and now no one bundles. Oh well. 

I don’t discard the leaves that fall in the yard. I put them into the flower beds. I also don’t discard the branches I collect. Instead, I incorporate them into my natural fences. All you need is a good clipper, a hammer, and wet enough soil in order to be able to drive in the stakes. And I admit, I’ve been guilty of sneaking into the neighbor’s yard, and stealing their downed branches as well, but only when I needed a good branch to replace a section of rotten wood. The fence, is an ongoing event so you always need new branches.

Unexpected Delight

Working in the yard this morning, I came upon Narcissus blooming in one of my beds. The fragrance filled my senses. 

Lines

In the past week, I have seen two people who maxed out on waiting in line. The first woman was standing in a long line, holding a number of items, when suddenly she gasped and threw everything up into the air. It all came crashing down as she turned on her heel and stalked off. I gingerly stepped around the explosion, wondering if her exasperation level had been breached.

The next woman I encountered, stumbled up to the check out with rolls and rolls of bubble wrap and mailing envelopes. I’m sure this was to mail quite a number of gifts for Christmas. She was about number 4 in line and miserably waited for her turn. As the line moved up,with a great sigh, she finally managed to put all the stuff on the conveyer. I was just finishing up checking out when the cashier behind the counter informed her that he was closing, and no, he wouldn’t wait on her. She made some kind of strangling noise, turned rather red, and stomped off, abandoning her items. I looked at the cashier and asked if this kind of thing was happening more often, and he admitted that it was. And of course, I said that would never happen to me.

Well, my exasperation level was breached this afternoon. After waiting over an hour past my appointment time at the eye doctor’s office, and standing in 5 incredibly slow, long lines at various stores, I found myself overcome with frustration, exasperation, and finally anger. In fact, I felt just like the woman below.

   There are just too many people on this planet!

So...  I think it’s best this holiday season, to promise yourself that you won’t stand in more than 2 lines per day. You will try to keep an upbeat attitude, even though the person ahead of you is doing something incredibly stupid and slowing down the whole process even more, making it that much more painful!  You’re killing me here!  I’m sure that soon, we’ll have a name for this condition, like “going postal,” except it will be “going linear.”

More Designs from Years Past

                                                              African Whispers

                                                      Spirit of the Green Oak

                                                          The Unicorn
                                                

Bucket List - Places Yet To Go


Now that I'm headed toward the autumn of my life, I thought I'd create a bucket list. It could change from time to time, but for now, this is it. 

Aurora Borealis

When I was was a child, one cold, frosty, winter night, my mother and I were looking up at the sky when I saw these strange swirling lights of color. I was amazed when she told me that it was the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights  She told me we were very lucky to see them because they usually didn't come down so far south into the US (we were in New Jersey at the time). It was a magical night. One that I will never forget. I  hope to see them again. 

Glacier National Park

Back in  the 1980's, I took a winter train trip across the northern part of the United States.  We passed by Glacier National Park and all I could do was look out the window.  Next time, I want to be there. 

Grand Teton National Park

Every time I see a program on this park, it makes me want to go there.  I had a second hand t-shirt I wore for years that came from the park and I wondered how its original owner felt there.

Denali National Park

Always wanted to go to Alaska, but never got there.  I'm sure it's a wild place.

Grand Canyon

I've driven across the US a number of times, and have always been in too much of a hurry to stop and see the canyon  The closest I've been to it is 50 miles. I'd also like to take the mule trip down to the bottom.

Costa Rica

Just the thought of all those birds I'd get to see if I went there, makes me long to go.  I'd like to spend at least a week going on bird watching tours. 

Stonehenge

The circle has always been mystical, spiritual, and mysterious.  Although I've watched many programs on Stonehenge, I really don't want to know who actually built it.  I like the mystery. 

Ravens and the Tower of London

Even though we're Americans, English history is very familiar to us. The Tower of London has ravens. The belief is that if the ravens ever leave the tower, the British Empire will fall. So just to make sure that doesn't happen, they clip the wings of the birds. 

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

I lived in Felton, California for many years.  I spent many an hour, walking in this park and never got tired of it. Its beauty is a rare thing. Within the park is the redwood loop that is by far, one of the most incredible paths I've ever set foot on. When I want to go to my happy place, that's where I go, and hug one of the old growth trees. 

Yellowstone National Park

Even though I'd have to be subjected to crowds of people, I think it would be worth seeing this place.  It is the oldest national park in the US.  

Canadian Rail Trip

All I had to see is one TV program to convince me that a train trip across Canada would be great. 

Camping Trip on Horses in Colorado During the Warmer Months

I'd like to go on one of those pampered trips where you get gourmet meals and soft bedding at night, by the campfire, after riding horses all day.  Believe me, I don't like camping, but in this case, it would be nice to sleep outdoors. I bet the stars would be awesome. 

Artwork from Years Past

I was going through some of my folders, and came across past artwork that I haven't seen in a while. All three pieces are made with junk jewelry, coins, glass drops, and of course, the carved birds that I found on a dusty shelf at the thrift store. The eggs are from a necklace. 

                                                                 Nesting Birds

                                                             Shazaam!

                                       Turtle Square Dance (not all art is serious)

Pink Flamingos

Hello, Martha?  This is Ruth. I passed your house on my daily walk and noticed that you put out a pair of Pink Flamingos with the trash. I really wish you hadn’t, because I was forced to take them home and now I have them in my yard. I couldn’t just leave them there, you know, tossed out like old baggage and stale laughs. You could have at least buried them with dignity now that they are old and the pink is coming off. My neighbor has already told me I have too much yard art, and this will probably add ammunition to the stand off, and get me in further trouble. And I won’t mention that when I was picking up the flamingos, one of their legs fell off and I had to climb down in the ditch by your house to retrieve it, and the cop who drove by wanted to know why I was down in the ditch with Pink Flamingos.  It’s OK though, the towns people already think I’m a little odd.  But please, if you have anymore, just keep them to yourself.   

No Teef!

Throughout my life, I have had to pay enormous dental bills. I seldom go to the doctor, but I spend a great deal of time with Dr.Tooth Decay. It’s not fair. The rest of my family have all their pearly whites, but not me. I’ve had so many root canals that I no longer remember which teeth are alive and which are dead. However, I’ve crowned them all! And more than once. The ones I hated to lose the most were the gold crowns, so I started saving them, along with other teeth, and finally got enough to put them into a design. An $8,000.00 design, and here it is!  Yikes!

P.S.  The wisdom tooth and the small carved skull aren’t figured into the 8K. 

Fingerprints in the Attic

Continuing the theme of why it's good to look up once in a while, I found fingerprints and hand prints on the ceiling of the attic.  I can only guess, but I think they may be the prints of the people who built my house.  That would date them to 1890.  Pretty cool.  Or maybe Lloyd, our ghost, put them there. 

The Canopy

It was such a nice day today, that I couldn't resist looking up into the tree canopy of my yard.  Most people have tunnel vision, intent on whatever they are seeking to do, with no thought of their surroundings. Sometimes it's good to stop and look up into the sky.  It's really beautiful up there. 

                                                                   Back Yard Oak

                                                                  Magnolia Canopy

                                                               Side Yard Canopy

                                                                Our Mighty Oak

                                                              Popcorn Tree Canopy

                                                        The Other Side Yard Canopy

                                                           Tip of the House Canopy

                                                   This is the view from the front porch.

Samhain

                                                    I'm ready for Halloween with my smoking
                                                    cauldron and Raven. 

                                           These three friendly witches arrived for the holiday.

Creative Kitchenry


I’ve been working on my kitchen for some time now, on a string bean budget. The last time it was remodeled was 1953. I was 5 years old then, and north of the Mason Dixon Line. But I gotta tell you that whoever built the kitchen cabinets was anything but a carpenter. My only recourse was to turn them into open shelving. I also had to paint over wallpaper, which was a challenge of its own. And why would I do that, you wonder? Well beneath the wallpaper is linen, and beneath the linen are rough hewn boards that make up the walls of the kitchen. They’re made of Heart Pine, which doesn’t exist any longer. Sheet rock wasn’t invented then. Having limited resources caused me to be creative, and I came up with a few good ideas.

Every few weeks, Elaine and I drive to Pearl to the thrift stores. We both enjoy looking at other people’s junk and it’s an inexpensive way to entertain ourselves.There’s a business on Highway 80 we pass, called Hub Cap Heaven. It never fails to amuse me. The owner of the store has hundreds of hub caps hanging up, inside and out. I couldn’t resist taking his idea into my kitchen. 

The pots I cook with are Revere Ware. My mother and grandmother passed them down to me and I have never had much desire to buy new ones. Over the years, I stopped cleaning the copper bottoms. Now that I’ve hung them on the wall, I’ve started the long process of bringing them back to their original state. Thanks to the Internet, I know how to do that now. I'm not there yet, but soon!